The dreaded pink algae?

[mickey4paws]

Hi, so glad to hear you're getting rid of your pink algae! Yesterday, I brushed around the floor in the deep end and there was still some of that powdery stuff, but the walls weren't slimey and neither was the ladder. So we put the automatic cleaner in this morning and found the bag pink again Argh!!! So I guess it's time to kick up the chlorine level again. It's at 4 right now so I think this time I'm going to shoot for 8. I wonder if the algae is dead, would it still be pink?

Thanks for the info on the Polyquat 60. I think we're definitely going to have to use it again this year.

Edit: Now my husband thinks we should just shock the pool and be done with it.

 

[chessie6]

I'd go with shocking too. Also, make sure you clean your filter bag to kill anything in it - we used a Chlorox disinfecting cleaner on the filters, ladders, equipment, toys - anything that could come out of the pool to be scrubbed and then rinsed well. Brushing is critical too in order not to let any bio film build up to harbor the bacteria that pink algae really is. What a pain, but it's so worth it - yesterday my husband told me that I'm to be "commended" for doing such a great job with the pool and the super sparkling water we have now

 

[mickey4paws]

Thanks, Jan Last night by the time we decided to shock, the stores were closed so we decided to at least put in the 2 jugs we had. This morning I tested and FC was at 13, so on the way home from work I'm going to buy a couple more so we can get up to shock level. The pool actually looks good and you wouldn't know we had the algae except for finding it in the cleaner's bag (I did wash the bag in the washing machine but only used regular detergent and no bleach. Do you think the algae can still be in there? The bag looks clean, but?)

Pink algae is bacteria? I didn't know that.

 

[chessie6]

Without bleach, I can't trust that washing your vac bag would kill the pink issue. You may want to re-wash it, or I wonder if putting it in the pool when it's at shock level would do the trick. I've put toys and things in the pool while it's being shocked in order to clean them.

Yes, pink algae isn't really an algae - thinking about it being a bacteria in the pool is so gross to me but I've swam in it and have never had any bad effects . . if you've ever had a pink color around your drain in the tub or shower, it's the same thing. In our house, it shows up if I don't clean every week, and I've seen it in the kitchen sink where the dish drainer is, too.

I shocked last night and brushed, brushed, brushed - pool is clear and sparkly but only time will tell if things start getting slippery again. I had googled "pink algae" awhile back and remember reading that research has found that most people who have it tended not to shock weekly and did not clean their solar covers at least twice during the season. hmmmmm

Jan

 

[mickey4paws]

All very interesting, thanks, Jan. I have noticed the pink ring around the drain in the bathtub and just scrub it away when I see it. Never knew that was the pink icky stuff. We shocked the pool and are brushing it all down. So far, haven't seen any problems. We've been keeping the solar cover off during the day. The other night we kept it off all night and wouldn't you know it, some type of bugs decided to hatch. I saw them that night all around the light bulbs outside. They look like little fruit flies with wings. Well the next morning, the pool had a nice layer of dead bugs all over it. Pretty yucky!

Meanwhile, I found an interesting post on another forum where the poster Waterbear was saying the cause of pink algae wasn't because of covering the pool with a solar cover, but rather because the CYA level was too high, or not in line with the chlorine level. My CYA was around 60 and we had let the chlorine level drop to 2.5, so I wonder if that's what caused the pink stuff. I was so used to having the solar cover on and having the salt water chlorine generator set low, that when I had the cover off for a few sunny days, the level dropped too low.

If you want to read the post I'm referring to, it's here:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread ... light=pink

 

[chem geek]

My CYA was around 60 and we had let the chlorine level drop to 2.5, so I wonder if that's what caused the pink stuff.

Having the FC get below around 7.5% of the CYA level in a non-SWG pool and certainly below 5% of the CYA level in any pool for a period of time can allow algae to grow faster than it can be killed. Normally bacteria are killed more easily, but pink slime can readily form a more resistant covering and can get into some pool surfaces. This article isn't a bad summary except that it neglects the FC/CYA relationship so recommends regular shocking, but if one properly maintains the appropriate FC and CYA relative levels, then one should be fine which is why pink slime is so rarely reported by those properly maintaining the chlorine/CYA levels in their pools. waterbear's post fills in the other details and explains why products that use ammonia or bromide seem to work because they work around high CYA levels that make chlorine less effective (unless the FC is proportionately raised).

As with many pool problems, prevention is much easier than fixing the problem once it occurs.

 

[mickey4paws]

Thanks, Chem Geek, and thanks for the article. I printed it out so I can read it when I get home from work. I definitely learned my lesson and not going to let those levels get too low again. It was only a matter of about 3 days but I guess it was enough. We had that "tissue paper" white mold stuff when we were using Baquacil, but since we've had the salt water chlorine generator, things have been great (until now that is). One good thing is I think we were lucky to catch the pink stuff when it was just starting and hope we got it all with the shocking and brushing.

 

[chessie6]

mickey, we have those bugs here too - ugh. There's also a lot of little crawly bugs going into the pool and when fished out, they look like tiny armadillos, all curled up.

Great post from Waterbear and also great article from chemgeek - I had read that article a couple months ago and have been working many of the suggestions it lists. Thank you both for referring them.

I am still very shocked that pink algae visited my pool because I have always been a meticulous pool owner. What threw me off this year was that I was using test strips to test for cya, thinking I was doing a good thing. After opening the pool this spring I had a cya reading of 0 (huh?). So I added some along with using pucks, and continued readings with the test strips showed I still had very little cya. You know the rest of the story . . and by the time I got my TF100 test kit and tested it, I had a reading of 90 to 100. So, I didn't have enough chlorine for my cya level and those pink invaders moved in. We had to dump 12,000 gallons of water earlier this summer and replace it.

I was doing some further reading about pink algae - just by googling and buzzing around the 'net and found something that said that chlorine cannot penetrate the slime barrier well to kill the bacteria that's really buried in there; it kills the ones that are closer to the surface of the slime but those inside continue to flourish which is why this is so hard to get rid of. It continued to say that if MPS (oh gosh, I can't even spell this one but it's the non-chlorine oxidizer) is used, the slime will be broken down and the bacteria will be exposed. I'm so tempted to pour some into the skimmer to clean out the plumbing, but I don't have any dosage info or anything to go on. I had also read somewhere that by the time you see pink in your pool, that the plumbing is pretty well heavily infested. Nice, huh?

Anyway, it's not all bad . . the pool looks great but only because I have been maintaining higher chlorine levels and shocking it once a week - still a small price to pay for the pleasure of having a pool!

Jan

 

[mickey4paws]

Jan, what level of chlorine are you maintaining now? I do think our problem was caused by the CYA levels, and the subsequent keeping the pool covered during the day.

Last year when I got my TFT100, I became rather obsessed. It was also the first year we were using chlorine so I was nervous about that. We previously used Baquacil and that was a nightmare. Anyway, we got the salt water chlorine generator and converted. Last summer the pool was the best ever. I was testing my water every day, sometimes twice a day. Of course my husband said he didn't think it was necessary to test everyday. So this year I said I was going to relax a little and was testing about twice a week instead. Then of course we got the pink monster.

This morning I left the cover off the skimmer hoping that the sunlight will help (according to that article). Well now it's pouring rain.

Here's a question: In the article is said you should clean your filter a few times a season. We have a new sand filter we got last year and I haven't cleaned it yet. Wouldn't all the chlorine from the shocking that goes through the filter clean it in regards to the Pink Monster? Or, like what you read, chlorine doesn't really kill it. I want to clean my pipes too and the filter, but I don't know what I should do. What is MPS?

Also, when we brushed the pool, there was no indication of the Pink Monster anywhere. Do you think it's really in the pipes still?

 

[chem geek]

Here's a question: In the article is said you should clean your filter a few times a season. We have a new sand filter we got last year and I haven't cleaned it yet. Wouldn't all the chlorine from the shocking that goes through the filter clean it in regards to the Pink Monster? Or, like what you read, chlorine doesn't really kill it. I want to clean my pipes too and the filter, but I don't know what I should do. What is MPS?

Also, when we brushed the pool, there was no indication of the Pink Monster anywhere. Do you think it's really in the pipes still?

Not sure if the filter cleaning is necessary unless there is channeling preventing the chlorine from reaching all areas. As you say, the shock level of chlorine should mostly clean the filter, but I think they're being conservative about this to ensure that all areas of the filter have pink slime killed/removed.

MPS is non-chlorine shock (potassium monopersulfate). I don't know if it really does a better job of killing pink slime. MPS is just an oxidizer, but it's different than chlorine and perhaps breaks through the "slime" better -- I don't know. It's about 3 times as expensive as chlorine for the same equivalent FC (i.e. oxidizing amount) and is in a variety of products usually called "non-chlorine shock". If you do end up using it, it will register as Combined Chlorine (CC) in tests so don't worry about that if you see it.

 

[chessie6]

hi mickey, I'm shocking every Monday eve, bringing the level to 20 ppm for my cya of 50, then maintaining around 8 to 10. I'm not really using much bleach at all these days since the shock keeps the level up for a few days. I agree that high cya was the problem, and then when the pink monster got a foothold, it contaminated the solar cover and kept the cycle going.

I've been leaving the cover off the skimmer as well - and leaving my leaf net and vacuum in the sun. It will be interesting to see if we get anything from Hurricane Earl on Friday p.m./eve - usually when rain is forecast I add an extra bottle of bleach ahead of time to try to prevent problems.

There's not too much information out there on the net that I can find about a pool's plumbing and info about pink slime being in it. I can tell you that when we had the initial bloom and opened the (cartridge) filter, the elements were covered with the pink. I used a Chlorox disinfecting cleaner on them, soaking them and rinsing very thoroughly and have noticed that the pink hasn't come back there since. It would make sense to me then that the slime would house themselves in the pipes, and I will continue to research this. I just may try the MPS shock - the article I read said it broke down the slime that protects the bacteria. I have a bunch of it that I use for my spa, so if I can figure out the dose, I may try it. Not sure yet.

But from everything I've read and have been told, the key to this is patience and keeping a higher chlorine level, at least for awhile. There's a member here who is absent right now - his name is "waste" and he was working on some pools in my state that had the pink slime as well. When he comes back, he may be able to give us some more information.

So far so good - there is no indication of any pink in the pool.

 

[mickey4paws]

Thanks so much for the replies, Chem Geek and Chessie6. We have been keeping the chlorine level at about 8 (after shocking at 20) and been keeping the solar cover off during the day. Well this past week has been terrible with high winds and we have a huge maple tree next to the pool. When I got home from work yesterday, the pool was loaded with leaves, twigs and bits of dead leaves, everywhere.

But I guess keeping the solar cover off more, and the high chlorine levels has finally paid off. This morning we put in the automatic cleaner and just now pulled it out, and the cloth bag was completely free of the pink monster! Yay!!!!!!! I am SO happy!!!

Thanks again for all your help, I really appreciate it. Hopefully we caught it in time. We're closing the pool in 2 weeks, so I hope no more pink monster!

Still debating whether to clean the sand filter or not. I don't think it could hurt to clean it before we close.

Lastly, Jan, let me know if you do use the MPS stuff and now it works. I'm glad to hear you're pool is doing good

 

[chessie6]

mickey, I'm SO happy for you that there's no pink in your vacuum! I was smiling all the way through while reading your post. Pink algae just takes time to get rid of, like I was told.

I've had my solar cover on during the last couple of days and had a mess on top because we had winds here, and figured I would find a slippery bottom this morning . . . NOT! Yay! Water is sparkling and everything is as it should be.

As long as the pool continues in this way, I will pass on putting MPS into the skimmer for now, but if I ever do I will post of the results. Hopefully it's not going to be long winter . . sigh. We usually close the pool around Sept 21, but if the trend of higher than usual temps continues into this month, we will hold off a bit.

It was a pleasure to follow this adventure with you, especially to a happy ending. And, I will always be around here to advise and support if needed in the future!

Jan